Chronicle Editor
- At least five people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a medical facility in Beirut, according to Lebanese officials. The Health Authority Centre was affiliated with Hezbollah
- The announcement comes after a series of loud blasts have been heard by BBC reporters in the Lebanese city, as the Israeli military says it conducted “precise strikes” there
- Three explosions were heard in Dahieh, in the city’s southern suburbs – with a fourth blast at a building close to central Beirut
- It comes as the IDF and Hezbollah report ground fighting inside southern Lebanon, a day after Israel announced it was invading
- It later reports the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers in combat – the first inside Lebanon since the invasion began
- Earlier, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would “pay”, after Iran fired around 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday
- Lebanese officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed in the past two weeks, while around a million may now be displaced
Live Reporting
Edited by Rob Corp, with Hugo Bachega and Nafiseh Kohnavard in Beirut and Nick Beake in northern Israel
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Israel poised to retaliate – but what happens next?published at 01:49 British Summer Time 3 October
Frank Gardner
Security correspondentMedia caption, Video shows Iran’s missile attack on Israel Israel is poised to retaliate against Iran for Tuesday’s volley of ballistic missiles, some of which penetrated Israel’s air defences.
“Iran,” says Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, “will pay a heavy price.”
Iran says its attack was in response to two assassinations by Israel – of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The restraint that Israel’s allies urged on it the last time there was a standoff like this in April is more muted this time.
And given Israel’s determination to take on all its enemies at once – in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Syria – the Netanyahu government seems to be in no mood to hold back.
Israeli planners will likely now be debating not if and when to hit Iran, but how hard.
Aided by US satellite intelligence and by Mossad’s (Israel’s overseas spy agency) human agents on the ground in Iran, the Israel Defense Forces has a wide range of targets to choose from.
These can broadly be divided into three categories; conventional military, economic and nuclear.
- We’re ending our live coverage now. For more of our coverage on the Middle East, click here.
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What happened today?published at 01:44 British Summer Time 3 October
We’ll soon be pausing our coverage of the third day of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
Here’s a look at the biggest developments of the last few hours:
- At least five people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a medical facility said to be linked to Hezbollah in central Beirut
- A series of loud blasts were heard by BBC reporters in the Lebanese capital as the Israeli military said it was conducting “precision strikes” there
- Israel has continued its push into Lebanon with multiple clashes reported between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces(IDF)
- The IDF announcedthe deaths of eight Israeli soldiers – the first inside Lebanon since the invasion began
- Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, says it was behind a shooting and knife attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday in which seven people were killed
- In Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says Israeli strikes in Khan Younis killed at least 51 people
To learn more about how the situation might develop, read BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardener’s piece here, and to read about the experience of British citizens forced to flee Lebanon click here.
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US resident among those killed in Lebanonpublished at 01:29 British Summer Time 3 October
A US permanent resident from the state of Michigan was among those killed in recent Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon.
Kamel Ahmad Jawad, 56, who lived in the city of Dearborn, had been in Lebanon to care for his elderly mother, according to The Detroit News.
A White House spokesperson later confirmed his death, saying: “We are deeply saddened by the death of Kamel Ahmad Jawad and our hearts go out to his family and friends. His death is a tragedy, as are the deaths of many civilians in Lebanon.”
On social media, friends of the father of four said he had died in an Israeli airstrike.
Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was among those reacting to the news.
“How many more have to die before our country stops sending more US bombs and funding this madness?” she posted on Instagram.
Dearborn has the largest population of Arabs in the US, with more than half of the city population identified as having Middle Eastern or North African ancestry.
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Building hit in central Beirutpublished at 01:04 British Summer Time 3 October
Images are starting to emerge of the building which was struck tonight in the Bachoura area of central Beirut.
These pictures show people gathering around an apartment building that was hit in the neighbourhood.
Our BBC Persian Middle East correspondent Nafiseh Kohnavard reported earlier that residents in the area had said that they heard the missile passing overhead.
The building is just meters away from Lebanon’s parliament and United Nations Regional Headquarters.
The Israeli military has carried out a series of air strikes in southern Beirut – but this is the first to target a building closer to the centre.
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, People gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood on October 3, 2024. 
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, People gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment building in Beirut’s Bachoura neighborhood on October 3, 2024. 
Image source, Getty Images -
Two further air strikes in southern Beirutpublished at 00:44 British Summer Time 3 October
The BBC’s Nafiseh Kohnavard – whose reports we’ve been carrying on this page – has posted on social media that there have been two further air strikes on the Dahieh suburb of Beirut in the last hour.
They follow a warning from the Israel Defense Forces to people living nearby that it was targeting what it said were facilities belonging to the Hezbollah group in the area of the city known to be its stronghold.
That takes the number of apparent Israeli strikes on Dahieh during the last few hours to five.
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Israeli military intercepts ‘aerial target’ as explosions heard along coastpublished at 00:40 British Summer Time 3 October
The Israeli Air Force says it “intercepted a suspicious aerial target” flying over the water in the area near Tel Aviv.
“Loud booms” were reported in the area, as well as further north along the Mediterranean coast.
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Gulf states affirm support for Lebanonpublished at 00:23 British Summer Time 3 October
The Gulf Cooperation Council has affirmed its support for Lebanon at this “critical stage” following a meeting in Doha, Qatar.
The council also stressed the need for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 to be implemented and called on all parties to exercise self-restraint.
The 2006 resolution called for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and established that the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers could be the only armed forces south of the Litani River.
The council also called on the international community “to assume its responsibilities to maintain security and stability in the region”.
The extraordinary ministerial meeting was called to asses the latest developments in the region. It also called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
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Death toll from central Beirut strike risespublished at 00:02 British Summer Time 3 October
Breaking
Five people are now confirmed to have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a medical facility in central Beirut, according to Lebanese officials.
Three people died after succumbing to their injuries, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, while two others were killed in the strike.
The building – called the Health Authority Centre – was affiliated with Hezbollah.
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Air strike hit building metres from Lebanon’s parliamentpublished at 23:53 British Summer Time 2 October
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, BeirutThe attack tonight on Bachoura in central Beirut is the first raid in the heart of Lebanon’s capital.
Residents in central and eastern Beirut reported that they heard the missile passing overhead.
The building that was hit is located just meters away from Lebanon’s parliament and United Nations Regional Headquarters.
I can hear the sirens of ambulances and fire engines. Live footage on Lebanese media shows that only one apartment of a multiple-storey building was hit.
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IDF issues new warning to evacuate areas of southern Beirutpublished at 23:33 British Summer Time 2 October
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, BeirutThe Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Arabic language spokesman has just posted on X, external warning the residents of five buildings in three neighbourhoods of the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh to “leave immediately or stay at least 500 meters away from those buildings”.
“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” his statement says.
There have been three air strikes already against Dahieh tonight, followed by a missile attack for the first time on a building in central Beirut.
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Two dead in central Beirut air strikepublished at 23:26 British Summer Time 2 October
Breaking
The Lebanese health ministry says two people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a medical facility in the Bachoura area of central Beirut on Wednesday night.
Eleven people were injured, the ministry said in a statement posted on X, external.
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‘Health authority’ building struck in fourth air strikepublished at 23:10 British Summer Time 2 October
Breaking
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, BeirutLebanese TV is showing live footage of the building which was hit in the fourth Israeli air strike of the night.
The office building in the Bachoura area is called the Health Authority Centre – which is affiliated with Hezbollah.
Media caption, Large explosion in Beirut as IDF says it conducted ‘precise’ strike -
Israeli missile targeted near downtown Beirutpublished at 22:44 British Summer Time 2 October
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, BeirutMoments ago we heard the sound of a missile passing through our neighbourhood in the eastern part of Beirut.
Israeli media say that Israeli warships in the Mediterranean sea are targeting the Lebanese capital.
A Lebanese security source tells me it was a cruise missile that was fired from the sea at a “health centre” belonging to Hezbollah in Salim Slam street close to downtown Beirut.
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Another loud blast heard in Beirutpublished at 22:36 British Summer Time 2 October
Breaking
Anna Foster
Reporting from BeirutI’d just finished presenting the BBC News at Ten from our rooftop position in central Beirut when we heard a loud explosion.
I span around to see the orange flash and flames reflected in the windows of the buildings around a mile away.
It looked like it came from a small Shia area with a Hezbollah presence, but far from the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh.
I’ve walked there before – it’s not far from where I used to live – and like other parts of this city it’s densely populated.
This is an airstrike not far from downtown – in central Beirut – and will cause fresh fear to people living in the Lebanese capital.
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Forty-six people killed in Lebanon in 24 hourspublished at 22:16 British Summer Time 2 October
As we reported on fresh Israeli strikes in Beirut, a new update reached us on the latest casualty figures in Lebanon.
The country’s health ministry says 46 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in the past 24 hours.
The strikes also left 85 people wounded, it adds.
Lebanese officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed in the past two weeks, while around a million may now be displaced
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Israeli military says it’s ‘conducted precise strike’ in Beirutpublished at 22:10 British Summer Time 2 October
Breaking
In an update, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has “conducted a precise strike in Beirut”.
Our reporter Nafiseh Kohnavard tells us she just heard three loud explosions in Dahieh, in the city’s southern suburbs.
Image source, ReutersImage caption, Smoke rises over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike -
Three big explosions heard by BBC reporter in Beirutpublished at 22:03 British Summer Time 2 October
Breaking
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, BeirutI just heard at least three big explosions one after another in Dahieh, a suburb in southern Beirut.
I can see a thick smoke over the neighbourhood right now.
The blasts were loud and rang out one after another.
It reminds me of the sound we heard during Israel’s huge airstrike on Dahieh on 27 September that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Image source, Nafiseh Kohnavard -
IDF says it is targeting Beirutpublished at 22:01 British Summer Time 2 October
Breaking
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says in a post on social media that it is “now targeting Beirut” in Lebanon, without providing further detail.
More to follow.
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Relief as first chartered evacuation flight from Lebanon lands in UKpublished at 21:58 British Summer Time 2 October
Nicky Shiller
Reporting from BirminghamI am at Birmingham International Airport and watched the first of the flights chartered by the UK government out of Beirut land.
The Foreign Office wouldn’t confirm how many people were on board, but it is a small percentage of the estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people believed to still be in Lebanon as of last week.
Those on the flight each paid £350 for a seat, with vulnerable people given priority on this first one. There will be another one tomorrow and, Foreign Secretary David Lammy says, “for as long as there is demand and it is safe to do so”.
For the people who have been waiting in arrivals at the airport I am sure they will just be relieved to see their loved ones back in the UK.
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Iran’s attack on Israel divides opinion among Lebanon’s displacedpublished at 21:48 British Summer Time 2 October
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, in BeirutWe can bring you more reaction from southern Lebanon now, in the aftermath of Iran’s attack on Israel.
Some, like Nada from Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, feel Iran’s attack will stop Israel’s plans to continue its ground invasion and airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
She fled her house with her family around two weeks ago.
“I think soon we will be able to go back to our home. In my opinion, now Israel knows what it should expect if it continues its aggression.”
I ask her: But what will happen if Israel attacks Iran?
“Israel wouldn’t dare. If it does, Iran will do more than what it did already.
“Iran can defend itself,” she tells me.
Her neighbour, Hanan, who sits next to her, disagrees: “I think the third world war has started and it will be devastating for everyone. We already lost our house and our leader is gone. But many more will lose their lives and houses too.”
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